Kinjo hit propels BayStars to win

Tatsuhiko Kinjo broke up a tie with an eighth-inning RBI single and the DeNA BayStars held on for a 5-4 win Tuesday afternoon to end the Yakult Swallows’ six-game winning streak.

Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the hosts tied it on back-to-back home runs from Tony Blanco and Norihiro Nakamura. Shotaro Ide reached on a one-out single off Tokyo Yakult’s left-handed starter Kyohei Muranaka, and Blanco went deep for his CL-leading 15th homer.

Nakamura followed with his third round-tripper of the year and got the ball rolling for the ‘Stars in the bottom of the eighth with a one-out single off right-hander Orlando Roman (1-2).

Pinch runner Takayuki Kajitani stole second and scored when the switch-hitting Kinjo singled into right.

BayStars closer Shun Yamaguchi (3-1) worked a scoreless eighth to earn the win after Jorge Sosa earned his first save of the season.

Sosa allowed a one-out single to Lastings Milledge and walked two-time Central League home run champ Wladimir Balentien on four pitches before getting out of the inning with the tying run on third.

Tigers 11, Carp 3

At Hyogo’s Koshien Stadium, Matt Murton, who set Japan’s single-season hit record in 2010, went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs to pace the Tigers in an 11-3 win.

Tigers right-hander Jason Standridge (2-2) allowed three runs, one earned, in seven innings to pick up the win. He allowed seven hits and a walk, while striking out four.

A pair of relievers contributed a scoreless inning apiece.

The Tigers opened the scoring on a two-run homer by Ryota Arai, his second of the season, in the second off Carp lefty Jumpei Shinoda (0-1).

Murton singled in captain Takashi Toritani to make it 3-0 in the third and belted a three-run homer in the fifth, his second of the season.

“I was motivated by Arai’s home run,” Murton said in Japanese in the postgame on-field interview.

The win kept the Tigers 3½ games back of the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants.

Giants 3, Dragons 0

At Nagoya Dome, Toshiya Sugiuchi (3-0) threw a five-hitter for his first shutout of the season as Yomiuri beat Chunichi to snap a four-game losing streak.

Dragons ace Kazuki Yoshimi (1-3) worked five innings to take the loss, his first at Nagoya Dome since Aug. 5, 2011.

Giants captain Shinnosuke Abe’s seventh home run made it 2-0 in the first, while Hisayoshi Chono drove in a run on three singles. Dragons catcher Motonobu Tanishige went 1-for-4 to move within four hits of 2,000 for his career.